


Nikola Tesla Eats Pineapple On His Pizza

by SamIamSamIwas



Category: Apex Legends (Video Games)
Genre: Based on a Frozen Froh tweet, Cute, DarkSparks, Developing Friendships, Developing Relationship, Domestic Fluff, F/F, Fluff, Funny, Her Cat, How Wattson Got, Nikola Tesla - Freeform, Nikola origin story, Pre-Relationship, Where did Wattson get her cat?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-18
Updated: 2021-02-18
Packaged: 2021-03-14 09:01:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,274
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29539989
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SamIamSamIwas/pseuds/SamIamSamIwas
Summary: Wraith eyes started to itch and nose tingle. She sniffled. Great. This same thing happened to her whenever she was around Elliott’s dog. The tabloids would die if they ever learned that Wraith, Queen of the R-99 and savage killer in the arenas had one weakness: animal dander.A short story on how Wattson got her cat, Nikola.
Relationships: Wattson | Natalie Paquette/Wraith | Renee Blasey
Comments: 3
Kudos: 53





	Nikola Tesla Eats Pineapple On His Pizza

**Author's Note:**

> HUGE thanks to my bestie Megan for betaing this. She made so many edits in the wee hours of the morning! Thank you! Hope you guys enjoy!

Wraith hated the local raccoon population almost as much as the IMC. As she pulled up to Natalie’s house on her motorcycle in the dark, she could see the outline of a trashcan laying on its side. She cursed under her breath. Roi Racoon, as Natalie sweetly dubbed him, was back. The kunai in Wraith’s boot felt heavy.

Fridays were spent with Natalie (if it was up to Wraith, she’d spend every day with her). On most Fridays, they would watch movies and eat pizza. Sometimes Wraith would help Natalie clean up her house, or sometimes they'd go to the firing range. It was a usual routine that Wraith looked forward to.

Fridays always went smoothly up until two weeks ago, when the two garbage cans in front of Natalie’s house turned into an arena for Racoon Fight Club. It was like every raccoon in the area had been there. Which, with the exception of some strewn trash, wouldn’t have been a problem but the loud screams of the raccoons mixed with the screeching of the tin cans rolling across asphalt set Natalie off.

Last Friday, Wraith may not have had a wingman on her, but she knew a broom would do. She spun it around like an oversized kunai in her hand. Most of the raccoons scattered, all except for Roi Racoon.

 _Roi Racoon_ had a pot belly which made him more body than head. Though he looked like a potato, his scarred face and cataract eyes told a different story. _Roi Racoon_ had no fear. When Wraith swung the broom at him he didn’t even blink. It took Wraith throwing her kunai at him (and purposely missing) for him to scram. But she knew it was only time before he would return.

As the tires of Wraith’s motorcycle screeched to a stop, Natalie’s driveway light flickered on and remained flickering. Wraith always found it funny how Nat would come up with fifty new ways to use a capacitor, but fixing a driveaway light wasn’t at the top of the list. 

Wraith pulled off her motorcycle helmet, and her nose twitched at the scent of rotting trash. The tickling in her nose caused her to sneeze immediately. She groaned at the mess. In the flickering lights she could see cracked eggs, fermented produce, and crushed soda cans decorating Natalie’s driveway. She kicked the trash into a messy pile so that Natalie could pick it up in the morning… assuming she would. 

Wraith balanced a warm pizza box in one hand and her motorcycle helmet in the other. She knocked on the door using the tip of her steel-toed boot. 

Natalie answered the door looking the same as she does every Friday. Seeing Natalie’s messy blonde hair was a luxury as she wore her cap almost everywhere, but today her hair was down. Her face glowed and her cheeks rosy. Her pale blue tank top straps hung loosely on her shoulders, and her white pajama pants pooled around her feet. 

Wraith wasn’t sure why or how but she always felt like the voices were quieter when she was in Natalie’s presence. 

“ _Roi Racoon_ is back and he knocked over your trashcan.” Wraith probably shouldn’t have started with that.

The excitement on Natalie’s face melted. Her lips pursed. “I’m going to have to start fencing off the trashcans.”

Wraith stepped inside. Natalie took her helmet into her hands, twisting and turning it. Wraith sighed. She could see the gears turn in Natalie’s head; it was such a precious thing to witness. “Wraith, you should let me add modifications to this.”

“Modifications..?” There was a softness in her voice.” Okay, Nat. but you gotta tell me what kind.”

“I don’t know, nothing too excessive.”

That’s how it always starts. ‘Nothing too excessive’, she’d say. Then it would turn into a toaster that uses a weapon-grade laser to make toast. 

“I just wanted to try something a little more creative.” Natalie said while standing on a kitchen chair fanning the fire alarm with a dish towel to keep it from screaming.

Wraith could still smell the incinerated toast from two weeks ago. 

Wraith followed Natalie into the kitchen: dishes piled high in the sink, an array of boxes left on the counter, a familiar dishtowel on the floor. Last week they had cleaned, and in less than seven days the place was in disarray once more. But that was Natalie: a beautiful disaster.

Natalie placed the helmet on the kitchen table and then quickly wrote a note in her messy french cursive. She placed it on top of the helmet before she turned to grab some nearby paper plates.

As she followed Natalie to the living room, Wraith could see that all the photos on the wall were crooked. Again. She sighed. Natalie must have been working on one hell of an experiment this week.

Natalie took the pizza from Wraith and placed it on the coffee table, quickly grabbed a slice, and sat cross-legged on the couch. With pizza in one hand, she patted the space next to her on the couch with the other. The couch gave a low creak. When Wraith asked Natalie where she got the couch from, she shrugged. “It was a hand me down from meme.”

It certainly looked like a hand-me-down. It was a dulled pink couch with various fabric patches glued on that kept it from almost completely falling apart. Wraith had mentioned buying a new couch on a couple of occasions and each time Natalie insisted there was nothing wrong with her current one.

Wraith slouched on the couch and wondered how long she could go without Natalie asking her why she wasn’t eating pizza. Over the few months since she’s gotten to know Natalie, she’s watched her favorite flavor of pizza change: from artichokes and black olives, to sausage and ham. She’s tried everything! Currently, it was a vile combination of mushrooms and pineapple, but of course, Wraith would happily choke down a slice for her if she asked.

As they settled in, Natalie turned on the tv. Today, it was Natalie’s choice of movie and it would undoubtedly be some documentary that she would get too into and would spend the next couple of days talking about. Wraith always thought that was cute. 

Natalie chose a nature documentary on polar bears as they settled in. “Look at the baby bears. Si petit!” Wattson pointed at the scene, a big smile on her face. 

Wraith would never tell her, but her favorite part of any movie they watched together was Natalie’s facial expression and the sheer excitement she had for the little thing, which there was never a shortage of. 

Wraith wished she could feel like that. The freedom to let herself laugh at something as simple as a documentary about baby polar bears playing in the snow. There were far darker things that clouded her mind. Yet, Natalie was the little bit of sunshine that peeked through the clouds. 

The sound of crashing metal had Natalie jumping and throwing her hands over her ears, and Wraith instinctively reaching for her kunai. This was unmistakably the sound of the trashcans falling and rolling on the ground. Even in the near pitch black, Wraith could see those blue eyes shine in her direction.

Wraith pulled the kunai from her boot. 

“ I’m gonna go and check. In case it’s-”

“ _Roi Racoon_.”

“Exactly.”

The sight outside Natalie's house was eerie. The flickering porch light did little to ease the mood. Peering into the pitch black, the sound of wind and creaking trees surrounded the house. A light fog left a chill down Wraith’s spine. The only noise louder than the wind was the soft scratching of a tin trash can lid grinding against the asphalt. With one last flicker of life, the porch light died. Of course, now would be the time. In the shadows, Wraith could make out both trash cans now laying on the driveway, swiveling with the breeze of the wind. The two knocked-down trashcans were a sure sign of the revival of the raccoon fight club she worked so hard to disassemble. She pulled out her phone, using it as a light.

The closer she crept the more rattling she heard from inside one of the trashcans. She held her kunai out, sweaty fingers holding tight.

_You won’t_

_You will_

_You won’t_

She shook her head, the voice had been quiet this entire time. Why now?

She didn’t think she had it in her to maim an animal. Scare one, yes. Kill, no. At Least not in this life. She kicked the garbage can expecting _Roi Racoon_ to run out of it. Instead, a soft mew broke the air. This sound was different. Definitely not that of a raccoon.

She knelt down and shined her flashlight into the can, her eyes narrowed at the creature inside. Her mind immediately flashed to the monster movies Che had made them watch on the one night she joined them.

Something about the movie _Signs_ struck a chord with her. As she looked at the little mucky creature inside, with a head almost too big for its body, she couldn’t help but have the idea pop into her head that it was an alien. But she knew how ridiculous that thought was. 

She dismissed the thought; aliens aren’t real. Instead, she studied it. Its body was thin and ribs were protruding through patchy fur. She watched as its little nostrils flared and soon she realized (and felt quite stupid) that this wasn’t any sort of alien at all: it was a kitten.

Drenched in mud and emaciated, it shivered from the chilled breeze outside. Its eyes nearly crusted close from the dirt that covered its face. 

Wraith eyes started to itch and nose tingle. She sniffled. Great. This same thing happened to her whenever she was around Elliott’s dog. The tabloids would die if they ever learned that Wraith, Queen of the R-99 and savage killer in the arenas had one weakness: animal dander. 

Even as she continued to sniffle Wraith couldn’t help but feel like this creature was helpless. Something tugged at her heartstrings that made her a bit uncomfortable. If she left it, it would die. She didn’t want it to die, did she? No, she didn’t. It wouldn’t be fair to not give it a fighting chance. After all, she was given a fighting chance once.

Wraith took a breath. She had seen every outcome possible. She hoped it wasn’t the one where the cat spontaneously combusts- because that was a thing. And while she hoped it was one where the cat remained calm and let her pick it up, she had her doubts.

She reached into the garbage can, and the second her hand neared the cat's head it swiped at her. Its tiny nails cut into her skin lighting it on fire. Great. Now she was bleeding. 

The cuts immediately became inflamed and itchy. For a kitten who could barely see, it sure hit its target.

And so the game began. Wherever her hand went, the kitten jumped to the opposite side. It came to a point where Wraith used both hands to grab at it, letting the trashcan roll haphazardly across the pavement. Hell, she could shoot someone with a wingman 300 meters away, but she can’t wrestle a kitten at Death’s door. Was she that weak?

She sighed in frustration. It's like this cat wanted to die. She should just leave it for the prowlers. Right? Right. That’s what it wanted…

But she couldn’t. 

She pulled her scarf off her neck with a huff and placed it over her hands. In one quick movement, she laid it over the kitten. It growled and scratched, nearly mute and immobile against the fabric of her scarf. She, against her better judgment, scooped up the little thing and held it to her chest. 

Wraith wasn’t sure how she held onto the kitten for so long as she opened Wattson’s front door. Occasionally, its paw would snake its way out of her scarf and cut into her hand like fiberglass. She held it the best she could, but the second she got back into the living room the kitten poked its head out and sunk its teeth right into her palm. By reflex, she dropped the kitten, but it landed gracefully on its feet, leaving a muddy trail of paw prints all the way to the coffee table. Wraith held her breath as the kitten jumped onto the coffee table and straight into the pizza box. 

“Mew, brought me a kitten?” 

If it was anyone else who said this ill-timed joke after everything she’d been through with the cat, then she might have considered slitting their throat. Instead, Natalie’s pun made her frown creep into a smile.

“I tried to bring you a kitten but it was a catter-problem.”

Natalie’s face twisted for a moment.”Catter…? Wraith your not very good with puns.” She shook her head. “Cat-astrophic would have been better. But, I’m proud that you are trying.” 

The kitten ripped and tore at a slice of pizza twice its size. Wraith couldn’t help but wonder if this is what she looked like in the arena when she took down opponents who were twice her size. 

The kitten ate as if its life depended on it (which maybe it did since it was fairly emaciated?). Even a hungry Natalie looked tame in comparison to this cat who swallowed an entire slice of pineapple mushroom pizza before jumping off and running straight to Wattson’s bookcase. 

With only the light of the television reflecting on Natalie’s face, Wraith could make out that her eyebrows were scrunched together and shoulders hunched. Natalie was biting her lip as she studied the situation like how she studied all the coils and electrical work that she had ever done. Her hand moved to her chin and her eyes ticked between each variable. 

The cat. Wraith. The cat. Wraith. 

This made Wraith jittery. She couldn’t tell if that was a good thing or a bad thing considering the giant mess the kitten made on the coffee table. It continued to trek across the room, and now dirt was slathered across Natalie’s white bookcase as it tried to climb. 

_Natalie’s mad at you_

_She’s pissed_

_She’ll never like someone like-_

With mud all over her carpet and covering her bookcase, Natalie would be mad. 

Wraith reached out for her, but before her fingers could touch Nat’s shoulder she pulled back on impulse and flexed that hand behind her head. “I’m sorry Natalie-”

Suddenly, Natalie’s musical laughter cut into the silence. Even the rabid kitten looked over and tilted its head.

“You’re not mad?”

“Wraith, don’t you see.” Her eyes were like glowing diamonds in the dark. She was practically dancing with excitement. “You brought me-ow a kitten.”She turned and held her hand  
out to the kitten.

“Be Careful, Nat.” Wraith thought about physically moving Natalie’s hand away, but she didn’t want to push any boundaries. Not yet. Not when their friendship already meant so much to her. 

“I think it might be rabid.” 

The kitten sauntered over and curiously sniffed Natalie’s hand. Wraith flinched behind her. 

“Are you scared of a little kitty, Wraith?” 

“N-no. Look, it attacked me.” Wraith raised up her cut-up hands. Bite marks and scratches covered them. She couldn’t understand why Natalie chuckled. 

“And that's how you know the kitty likes you.” She laughed, “Papa loved kitties. Growing up we had a cat named Edison who would keep the pests away from Papa’s shop. ” 

Even as the kitten hissed at her, Natalie giggled. Her hands moved to her pocket, and, in the dimness of the room, Wraith narrowed her eyes to see that Wattson pulled out a…  
spring?

“What is that?”

“A coil, leftover from yesterday's project.” Natalie shook the coil in front of the kitten, its eyes going from big and round to dilated. Wraith took a step back for good measure.

Wattson hummed as she dangled the coil. It's like she was so at peace and transfixed with this cat that everything else in the world ceased to exist. Wraith loved when Natalie got  
like that.

Wattson cooed. She dangled the coil playfully to tease the kitten, but Wraith crossed her arms. She wanted to push her hand away, but her own fingers had become swollen and puffy. She knew exactly what this animal was capable of. 

As the cat pawed at the coil, Wraith watched in horror as Natalie's hand reached for its head.“Nat, don’t-”

Wraith lunged forward. If she had to use her body as a shield for Nat, she would. However, instead of a heroic gesture to save Natalie from a similarly painful fate, she knocked her leg into the coffee table and nearly toppled over. In the arena, she was someone to be feared but around household furniture… Now that was a different story.

Her leg would definitely bruise. 

Natalie chuckled, her hand now softly petting the cat’s head. 

”Look Wraith, he isn’t so scary. See? Don’t be a scaredy-cat.” Her smile was teasing as she picked up the kitten and held him to her face, making Wraith a bit queasy.

“What should we do with it?” Wraith said, but Natalie didn’t answer. She was too busy pressing soft kisses to the dirty kitten's nose.

“Nat?”

“Mmmmhmmm..”

“What did you want to do with the kitten?”

When she looked at Wraith there was a softness to her features. 

“I think I’m going to keep it.” Natalie cradled the cat, leaving a dirty imprint on her shirt. The soft hum of a purr drifted in the air.

“Nat, are you sure-“

Nat’s face lit up as she nodded her head. Something about seeing Natalie’s smile in the darkness made the corner of Wraith’s lip turn upward. 

“Nikola”, Natalie said.

“Nikola?” Somehow the beast seemed tamed by Natalie's spirit, but maybe that was just how Natalie was. She was always one to see the best in people (or in this case, cats). 

“Nikola Tesla. Tesla created the Tesla coil and it’s only fitting as little Nikola loved playing with coils.” Natalie rolled the coil through her fingers, catching the attention of the  
kitten once more.

Natalie turned her attention back to the kitten. 

“Does _petite chaton_ want a bath?” She kissed its nose again and it mewed. She looked back at Wraith.

“I’m going to bathe the kitty. Do you want to help?”

Normally Wraith would have jumped at the idea of spending more time with Natalie, but with watery eyes and a runny nose, she just shook her head. “No, go ahead Nat. I think I’m gonna look for some allergy pills or something.”

“Okay, if mew,” she chuckled, “ need anything, don’t hesitate to ask.”

Through swollen eyes, Wraith watched as Natalie left the room with the kitten clinging to her shoulder. Wraith was happy that she could give Wattson something that would bring her such joy. But as Natalie turned the corner, Wraith watched the kitten turn to wrap its paw around Nat’s shoulder, its blue eyes staring directly at Wraith as a silent hiss formed  
at its mouth.

Did she imagine that? Wraith shook her head. She knew she was better than having a rivalry with a cat. Right? This was an animal after all. It’s not like it could actually complete with her for Natalie’s attention…. could it?

But as one more silent hiss left its lips before Wattson closed the bathroom door, Wraith knew the answer to that question.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! Sorry if I suck at tenses! If you want to hang out or follow me you can find me on Twitch as PancaksNJellybn or on Twitter & Instagram with the same name. <3


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